


Haven't Met You Yet

by JehBeeEh



Series: Ahead by a Century [52]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Couch Cuddles, Domestic Fluff, Fertility Clinics, IVF talk, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26431291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JehBeeEh/pseuds/JehBeeEh
Summary: “Hey sweetheart,” Steve called out tiredly as he toed off his shoes.He heard a small sound that he thought might be hey coming from Tony. He threw his jacket on the chair nearest the door and walked towards his husband, who still hadn’t moved a muscle. He looked at the screen with an expression Steve had never quite seen on him. A mixture between the look of delight he got in the lab, when he was deep in some techy binge Steve did not understand, and a fondness that Steve usually saw directed at him.“Tony? Everything okay?”“Yeah,” he whispered, a smile creeping on his face, eyes still locked on the screen. He stretched a hand towards Steve, some slower version of a one-handed grabby hand directed at him. “Com'ere,” he mumbled, and Steve couldn’t help but smile.Steve sat next to him, Tony's arm curling around his waist to pull him as close as could be to him. He gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before leaning his head against Tony's shoulder, feeling his husband's head drop against his the moment he was settled.“Look at this,” Tony told him as he restarted the video.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Ahead by a Century [52]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1514069
Comments: 25
Kudos: 118





	Haven't Met You Yet

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, we are in it! I have mentioned before I was not going to go through the whole IVF process the boys have to go through, but at least some of it had to be brought in.
> 
> I do want to say, there needs to be some hand waving that happens, especially on the surrogacy rules and laws and a bit on the timing of things. I have many friends who have done IVF so I am fairly well versed in that process, but having had to read up on the other aspects definitely added a whole other layer there.
> 
> I'll add a few more notes at the end for specifics from the fic, hope you enjoy! It is just sweet and fluffy and cute, for the most part.

The day had been beyond long, even by Steve's standards.

They'd had to both be up and in Manhattan early and at the fertility clinic before it was actually set to open – the joys of trying to avoid celebrity sightings and paparazzi peak times. Then came the added stress – or more aptly described _embarrassment_ – of being the only two people there at the time for sperm collection purposes. That thought alone had made the whole process harder for Steve to get through, even with the dirty talk and sexting he was doing with his husband. There was definitely nothing glamorous or sexy about trying to masturbate in a sterile, impersonal room where _everyone_ knew that's what was going on behind doors number 1 and 2. No matter how much Tony tried to remind him it was ‘for science', it didn’t appease Steve's nerves, and he'd needed Tony to call him and talk him through it. At least the phone sex had been fun.

Thankfully, the day was over now, and he was walking back into their home after managing a full day in the office. He dropped his keys and bag by the door, going through the motions. He caught sight of Tony to his left, sitting on the couch, transfixed by something on his tablet.

“Hey sweetheart,” Steve called out tiredly as he toed off his shoes.

He heard a small sound that he thought might be _hey_ coming from Tony. He threw his jacket on the chair nearest the door and walked towards his husband, who still hadn’t moved a muscle. He looked at the screen with an expression Steve had never quite seen on him. A mixture between the look of delight he got in the lab, when he was deep in some techy binge Steve did not understand, and a fondness that Steve usually saw directed at him.

“Tony? Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he whispered, a smile creeping on his face, eyes still locked on the screen. He stretched a hand towards Steve, some slower version of a one-handed grabby hand directed at him. “Com'ere,” he mumbled, and Steve couldn’t help but smile.

Steve sat next to him, Tony's arm curling around his waist to pull him as close as could be to him. He gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before leaning his head against Tony's shoulder, feeling his husband's head drop against his the moment he was settled.

“Look at this,” Tony told him as he restarted the video.

Steve watched for a while, unsure what he was looking at. He voiced as much after a few more seconds, making Tony chuckle. He paused the video and rewound a bit.

“This long line here? That is a very tiny, precise needle. See this little guy _right there_ -" Tony pointed to a small dot within the needle, “-that is one of your swimmers from this morning.”

Steve’s eyes grew wider as realization set in, his tiredness dissipating a bit. “What? Is that-"

“It is. Watch.” Tony hit play again, and the needle moved about the screen placing the egg from their donor, then piercing through the layers, and carefully implanting the minuscule sperm within it.

“Holy shit,” Steve breathed out. The video seemed to restart, but small details seemed different. “Is that the same one?”

“No, they included a bunch of them in here. They figured I’d nerd out over it. They weren't wrong. Still your handsome little sperms in action for now though.”

They sat in silence watching the video play. Steve curled his legs up onto the couch, snuggling into Tony as much as he could. He marveled at what they got to see, at the technology and all its advancements through the years. He had been stunned, and frankly a little horrified, at what the doctors at the clinic had offered in terms of the genetics of their little embryos. The thought of being able to prevent hereditary diseases or just making sure they were viable enough to sustain the IVF process was one thing, but when they delved deeper and brought up gender selection, Steve had looked at Tony with a completely horrified look and Tony had shook his head just as quickly. No amount of money in the world was going to make them go that route – and the doctors knew they had the financial resource.

 _“Many of our more well-off clients are interested in those options_ ,” the doctor had replied almost defensively, but Tony had just shaken his head again and said they weren't interested in any of that. They just wanted to have their own child, that was it. Steve had been relieved that Tony had reacted the same way he had and they didn’t have to discuss it in the office. It hadn’t been something they’d talked about, mostly cause Steve never knew it was an option. Technology never ceased to baffle him sometimes.

Tony pointed out when they'd switched to his own sperm being used for the remainder of the eggs being fertilized on screen, and Steve felt a warmth build in his chest, a feeling he hadn’t expected. Something about knowing that this would create some miniature version of his husband melted his heart in ways he couldn’t describe.

They watched the last bit of the video until it ended, Steve just as mesmerized as Tony had been when he walked in the house. Tony finally let the tablet rest on his legs. He nuzzled into Steve's hair, pulling the hand that had been around waist up to card though the blond locks.

“I can't believe we got to see that,” Steve finally said.

“I know. All in all, the doctor said they got a good amount of eggs fertilized and now we wait and see if they grow, and if they’re viable for transfers. I’ll get some more videos of that too in the next few days.”

“And then Nat's up?”

“And then Nat's up. One of each of us goes in, and we hope at least one sticks. Rest get frozen until we need or want to use them.”

“Huh. Wow. I'm just-“ Steve took in a deep breath. “It's kinda surreal to get to see it happen.”

“I know. Science is pretty cool.”

Steve chuckled and leaned back to look up at Tony. “Nerd.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Tony laughed back, kissing Steve on the lips.

“Can we watch it again?” Steve asked, grabbing the tablet.

“Who's the nerd now?” Tony replied fondly.

They let the video play on loop, only adding comments sporadically, both completely engrossed in the repeating images before them. Steve’s mind drifted about as he imagined what could be. He could easily imagine dark-haired toddlers, or lanky, blond preschoolers running around the house and his whole body filled with warmth. All the possibilities and yet, they wouldn’t know for a while who they'd get to meet in the end.

When the screen went dark the second time, Steve gently grabbed the tablet and set it on the coffee table. Without a word, he shifted until he could kiss his husband, letting his hands roam in his hair, along his jaw, scratching along his lower back under his shirt. Tony pulled Steve down with him as he lay on the couch, getting comfortable himself. They kissed lazily, tongues and teeth getting involved while hands explored softly, and legs tangled. Kissing soon turned to cuddling, and just holding each other close was all Steve wanted to do for the rest of the day.

“You make me ridiculously happy, you know that?” Tony finally said, placing a kiss on Steve’s collarbone.

“Feeling’s mutual,” Steve answered with a smile.

“And you know that won’t change, even if those little clusters of cells don’t stick, right?”

Steve nodded gently as he answered. “I know, sweetheart.”

“Good. Kinda fell down a rabbit hole of IVF info today and a few places were talking about how it’s just too much for some couples when it keeps failing. Just got me thinking…”

“I want this with you, Tony. So badly. And I can’t even imagine how much it might hurt if it doesn’t work out, but we’ll figure it out if we get there.” Steve placed a kiss in Tony’s hair, leaving his face buried in the soft dark locks after he did.

“Wanna order in and watch the video again?” Tony asked hopefully, making Steve smile.

“Food yes, but I kinda need a nap right now. This morning was exhausting.” As if to prove his point, a full body yawn overtook him, making Tony laugh.

“I could make so many jokes right now.”

“We’ve clearly learned that performing under pressure does not go well for me. Hopefully, we never have to do that again,” Steve groaned as he slid further down the couch so he could rest his head against Tony's chest, wrapping himself around his husband in the process.

“Well, if we do, we can be in the same room next time. I asked the nurse on staff-“

Steve's head shot up, interrupting him. “You are lucky I am too tired to poke you right now. I can’t believe you asked that!” He let his head fall back with another groan, the morning's embarrassment creeping over him again.

Tony kissed his cheek, and Steve could feel the grin on his face. “Well, now we know. Trust me, she did not seem fazed by it at all. I don't think you’re the first or last person that has minor issues in that department, babe. This is their job.” Steve just hummed half-heartedly, and Tony ran a hand through his hair, pulling a soft moan instead. “Sleep, I’ll get our food order in. Chinese okay?”

“Yeah, sure. Get the pork fried rice, please. Iss good,” Steve mumbled sleepily in Tony’s shirt.

“You got it. Love you, sweetheart.”

“Same. My weird little nerd.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this one <3 It was so fun to write.
> 
> First things first, YES you can actually get videos of this part of the process (seeing a friends' is what inspired this fic!). When you start thinking of the mechanics and sizes of things, it truly becomes so mesmerizing and just fascinating. Youtube has lots of videos too.
> 
> Also, YES you can apparently do the full gender picking thing in many places. What the frack! Even as someone who's always wanted a daughter, I just can't wrap my brain around it. Anywho... I started researching other quirky genetics things and it is absolutely mind blowing what they can do! And, by the sounds of it, in a few years, this story could be re-written with them using a completely different method where they can create embryos from two same-sexed partners, so they could have an actual biological child! It really is crazy.
> 
> So, currently, surrogacy is still basically illegal in NY, BUT laws have just changed and it will be okay as of Feb. 2021. I didn't feel like playing with timelines that badly, so we will handwave that. Also, part of the reason they went with an egg donor and not Nat involves some of those laws (the legalities of it become really confusing, and I just did not feel like diving into that. And there's only so much hand waving I felt comfortable doing too). Cause at one point, I absolutely wanted to have them talk about going full on turkey baster method, but that was just not going to fly (FTR, I do know a lesbian couple who went that route. Worked great!).
> 
> If I think of anything else, I'll add it along as we go. I promise the rest of the series won't just be about this, but it will come up a bit for sure. I hope you'll love it as much as I am loving what I've got planned.


End file.
